Am i being Discriminated against?

suzy253, RN · Jul 9, 2008

Could be that day shifts are few and far between and they take lateral transfers before hiring new employees for these positions. Good luck.

hikernurse · Jul 9, 2008

Sometimes day shifts are hard to come by, especially in hospitals, when you are new.

What about an office or urgent care clinic? Those are usually day hours. Certain departments in hospitals also are more likely to have daytime shifts--short stay surgery, endoscopy, mammograms (are those done by nurses?). Maybe something like that would work.

I can understand why you wouldn't want to work nights.

Sterren, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2008

I think demanding day shift is probably why you are not getting the job. It makes you appear not to be a team player (even though you do have a legitimate reason for it). I would bet that the interviewer assumes that refusing to work night shift would also translate into refusing to work overtime if they desperately needed you, refusing to work weekends, etc. Most of the people I know from nursing school (and at work) started out on nights, so finding a day shift as a new nurse is going to be quite difficult.

You may have to just bite the bullet and do nights for a while. Keep some snacks handy to try to keep your blood sugar more balanced, keep an eye on your numbers, and talk to your doctor about this problem to get some ideas on how you can manage it.

Jolie, BSN · Jul 9, 2008

The Americans With Disabilities Act requires employers to make "reasonable accomodations" for employees with disabilities. (I'm assuming that diabetes would be considered a disability).

"Reasonable accomodations" might include regular relief for meal breaks, but I doubt that it would include an employee specifying a permanent shift, especially if the hospital can demonstrate a need for staff on a different shift.

I echo the suggestion that you consider out-of-hospital positions. I would also make another suggestion: When going on an interview, it is necessaryto inform the potential employer about your need for day shift work, but you are not obligated to state the reason why. I would simply state that you need day shift for personal reasons. That may involve elder care issues, school schedule, childcare, or insomnia. It is none of their business. By informing potential employers upfront that you are diabetic, you may be raising alarm over healthcare costs. They may use your need for day shift work as a convenient reason not to offer you a position, when their real concern is your diabetes (which they can't legally address).

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 9, 2008

The Americans With Disabilities Act requires employers to make "reasonable accomodations" for employees with disabilities. (I'm assuming that diabetes would be considered a disability).
"Reasonable accomodations" might include regular relief for meal breaks, but I doubt that it would include an employee specifying a permanent shift, especially if the hospital can demonstrate a need for staff on a different shift.
I echo the suggestion that you consider out-of-hospital positions. I would also make another suggestion: When going on an interview, it is necessaryto inform the potential employer about your need for day shift work, but you are not obligated to state the reason why. I would simply state that you need day shift for personal reasons. T By informing potential employers upfront that you are diabetic, you may be raising alarm over healthcare costs. They may use your need for day shift work as a convenient reason not to offer you a position, when their real concern is your diabetes (which they can't legally address).

I agree with Jolie.

I would also point out that most of these facilities probably have staff members who want day shift, too. If day shift is in demand, why on earth would they hire from outside when they already have staff that wants those positions? It would really make no sense for the facility to do that. Hiring a new person, particularly a new grad, is a risk for any facility; they have no guarantee that this person will work out for them. Hiring a new person into a day shift position that an existing staff person wants would really be shooting themselves in the foot. They'd be taking a risk on an unknown while ticking off a number of their current employees.

I really think that out-of-hospital positions would be a much better option for you. There's no issue with shifts; not only that, but you are much more likely to get your regular mealtimes and hours that you need.

TexasPediRN · Jul 9, 2008

I'm curious as to why you are telling the nurse recruiter this in the first place.

Its the manager who is going to be the one to decide on what shifts she needs. The recruiter has nothing to do with staffing and doesnt need to know that peice of information.

I wouldnt say anything to the nurse recruiter, and see how far you get.

If they only offer nights, then you can decide yes or no. But, telling them upfront isnt going to make them want to hire you

If you decide against it, then tell the manager the reason. Also state you would really like to work there, and to please keep you in mind in case a day shift position opens up.

Good luck!

WVnurse6608 · Jul 9, 2008

Thank yo for all of the advice. I have tried out of hospital positions as well. I have tried urgent care, hospice, travel nursing, primary care offices and even temp companies. They all either want a year of hospital experience or LPNs. I am really stuck. The thing is now every hospital know I am already diabetic. I have been continually applying for every dayshift position that opens up. Maybe I am being too forceful. I will try not telling anyone about my diabetes and using personal reasons in my next interview and see what happens. I just got so worn out with dancing around the issue that I just started asking up front if they would consider me for a dayshift job and they said no. Again thanks for all the help and if you think of anything else please post it. I am so desparate for money I am cleaning houses with my mom, which is something I thought I did four years of school to avoid.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2008

Don't know if you're willing to consider psych or not, but when I interviewed in psych, I was told that as a new grad I would not be allowed to work night shifts. I would have to work days/evenings. Perhaps there are psych jobs with a similar plan in your area.

sofaraway04 · Jul 10, 2008

Sorry to hear you've been unable to get a job. I also have diabetes and find working nightshifts challenging. it's taken a while for me to work out what i need to do to stop myself having hypo's during the nightshift. Since you've only tried on 2 occasions it might be worth seeing if you make some changes so that you can manage to do some nights.

where i work I have to do internal rotation, so thats a mix of night and day shifts. Due to the problems I have with nights and blood sugars after a meeting with occupational health it was agreed that i would work 3 nights in every 4 week rota. It's a compromise I do a few nights but not too many.

hope that you manage to work something out soon

MJJFan1, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2008

I don't understand why you sugar is dropping at night. Normally it's backwards. However, if you really want to work, I think you should bite the bullet and prepare for the worst. What I mean by that is take some candy, OJ, french fries, or whatever to work with you and snack throughout the shift. and when someone asks you "why are you always eating" say "well if I don't, my bs will drop to like 30 and I don't want to be an inpatient here" I don't think you should mention your issue on interviews or demand days, they put us new grads on nights for a reason...........:redbeathe

MrEddie · Jul 14, 2008

I've noticed that almost any nursing position out of the hospital will require at least 1 year of experience before hiring on. I'm not sure what to say either.

Good luck on your job hunt though! :up: :)